James Dowland

Editorial collage illustrator · Winchester, UK

Collage for the systems
we live inside.

James Dowland is a collage illustrator working across editorial illustration, visual essays and image-based commentary. His work uses the visual language of contemporary systems to examine power, labour and everyday life.

Selected work

Six works · One collection
Failure by Design, an editorial collage by James Dowland showing an older woman reaching for an inaccessible Submit claim button.
Failure by Design Microsystems of Control
Categorical Denial, an editorial collage by James Dowland showing people sorted into folders for low-value applicants, pre-existing conditions and high-risk pools.
Categorical Denial Microsystems of Control
Running on Empty, an editorial collage by James Dowland showing an exhausted delivery rider lying on a battery at one percent charge.
Running on Empty Microsystems of Control
Service Unavailable, an editorial collage by James Dowland showing a person hanging from a tilted computer error message that blocks their request.
Service Unavailable Microsystems of Control
After the Lord Mayor's Show, an editorial collage by James Dowland showing a worker clearing up after a ceremonial rider.
After the Lord Mayor's Show Bureaucratic Rituals · WIP
System Oversight, an editorial collage by James Dowland showing a man carrying an exposed password beneath a login screen and compromised-password warning.
System Oversight Microsystems of Control

Explore the collections

01 · Editorial collage Microsystems of Control 02 · Surreal collage Soft Absurdities